Ice Melts Quickly
by Sandra Phillips
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Katara's first present is a broken heart. Her second is nearly freezing to death. What will her third be? Will it be the only salvation for a holiday gone wrong? Zutara, reposted for Christmas.


"You don't celebrate Christmas?" Zuko asked, sounding as though his whole world was crashing down around his ears. Katara rolled her eyes, picking an ornament out of the box between them and staring at it dubiously.

"No, Stupid, I just told you: down at the South Pole, we celebrate the Winter Solstice." She considered the glass bauble for a moment, then hung it the way Zuko had shown her. He looked at her funny.

"What's so exciting about the sun rising? It happens every day."

Katara's eyes flashed, and Zuko could tell that he mood had suddenly changed, swinging to the other side of her unpredictable emotional pendulum. "Of course," she snapped, unceremoniously dropping the next ornament back into the box. Zuko winced as he heard the tinkling of shattering glass. "My culture is one of savages, after all. Leave it to the Water Tribes to come up with the stupidest winter holiday of all. And here I thought we knew the most about winter! You know, seeing as we live in it almost _constantly_. And what would we use for a tree, oh wise Fire Lord? A tiny winter shrub? They're two inches tall! You know what kind of presents you can fit under a two-inch-tall tree? Well I do, Zuko, and let me tell you, they're _not _pleasa-" She stopped suddenly, an embarrassed look creeping onto her face as she looked over his shoulder. She swallowed.

"Hi, Aang." Her voice had descended from its previous climb in decibels to a timid nature. Zuko turned his head, almost hesitant to leave himself exposed to the raging girl.

His best friend grinned as he slipped through the door to Zuko's private study, closing the ornate door behind him. "Hi Katara."

Katara smiled, glancing sideways at Zuko as if daring him to act like they had been arguing. "Come on," she said to Aang. "Don't I at least merit a kiss?" She held out her arms to her boyfriend expectantly. Aang paused uncomfortably for a second, then closed the gap between them and kissed her on the cheek. Katara looked faintly disappointed, but said nothing.

"Katara," Aang said sweetly," I need to talk to Zuko for a minute, if you don't mind."

Katara could clearly see that he didn't want her present, but she was not going to be dismissed like some servant. She crossed her arms and sank onto a cushion next to the tree, cursing silently as her tailbone hit the floor painfully and wishing there were more chairs in the palace. She looked up at Aang. "I'm not stopping you."

Aang actually looked annoyed for a second, his gray eyes narrowing and his lips tightening, but he quickly covered it up. He bent down, balancing on the balls of his feet to stare at her at eye level. "Tara, I need to talk about something very important. You don't want to hear it."

"Know me that well, do you?" Her voice was light, but she was just fighting the twisting sensation in her chest as Aang's look stuck in her mind. She stared at him for a long second before giving the tiniest of nods. Offering her hand to Aang, who stood and took it, she rose angrily to her feet.

"Mai could probably use help hanging the stockings," Aang suggested gently. He laughed. "Toph won't be much use to her."

Katara nodded again and walked to the door, telling herself he was just imagining the change in his tone when he said Toph's name. As she opened it, she paused, turned around, and gracefully dropped to the floor in an elaborate curtsy. "My apologies," she muttered, half angrily and half mocking. "I nearly forgot to bow. Your Majesty, Great Avatar." Then she scooped herself up, and without looking at either boy she strode from the room and slammed the door behind her.

She stood in the hall right outside the room for a few seconds, silently steaming and listening to the sounds of laughter and singing and tinkling bells. The she heard an unexpected noise - Aang's voice. She perked up, following the sound to its source. Around the corner, she saw it: a tiny dumbwaiter, tucked into the wall behind a set of crimson and gold drapes. Without a second thought, Katara folded herself into it, closing the door behind her and sliding open the one that led into the room just an inch. She peered through the slit.

Both boys were situated on the cushions, facing each other. Aang idly plucked at loose strings on his cushion while Zuko watched him sympathetically, a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"There's no other way, Aang. You've tried to come up with one for weeks."

Aang put his fingers to his temple for a moment, then ran it through his thin hair. Katara knew the motion well; he was distressed.

"But Zuko, "Aang argued, sounding rather hopeless, "I can't break up with her on Christmas Eve!"

Katara's heart froze. She swallowed hard, and forced herself to breathe. Aang couldn't be serious, he couldn't be talking about her….

Zuko sighed. "Then wait another week." The comforting hand slapped him companionably, but with a little frustration. "Agni, Aang, you'll never do it at this rate. You just have to go up to Katara and tell her that you don't want to be with her anymore. Besides, she doesn't even celebrate Christmas anyway."

Katara found she couldn't breathe in the tiny compartment. She fumbled for the back doors, but couldn't get them apart. Heart pounding, she flung open the word in front of her and collapsed to the study's floor.

"Katara!" both Aang and Zuko yelped. She looked from one to the other with wide eyes. They had both risen halfway from their seats and looked back and forth between her and each other.

"No need," Katara heard herself squeak, and suddenly she dashed for the door.

"No, Katara!" Aang called after her, jumping the remainder of the way to his feet. Katara paid him no heed. She ran down the halls with her head bowed, mumbling apologies to servants who let out small yelps as she collided with them. She skidded on the wet tile floor as she rounded a corner, barely catching herself before she hit the wall. Then she blindly streaked down the new hall, at the end of which she could see the blinding reflection of sunlight on snow, and she could feel the cold air drift in through the open door. It didn't matter where she went outside. As long as it was quiet. And empty. And cold.

oOo

Back in the study, in the wake of Katara's shocking entrance and equally dramatic exit, Zuko looked up at Aang, who was caught between following her and staying.

"Don't do it, Aang," he said softly, rising to his feet. "Take it from me, girls hate conflicting messages."

"Why did I come to you, anyway?" Aang asked desolately as he slowly lowered himself down again. "Your romantic wisdom didn't seem to get you very far." He started picking at threads again.

"On the contrary," Zuko said slowly making his way to the door. "I knew when to call it off between us. Isn't that the advice you needed?" He didn't give the younger boy a chance to answer. He slipped quietly out of the door and latched it.

The scene before him was utter chaos. Servants clung to the walls as if afraid that another girl might come blindly racing into them. Zuko couldn't help but laugh at their frightened faces. "It's alright," he told them. "There will be no more running through these halls. Carry on."

Reluctantly, they peeled themselves from their sanctuaries and started walking again. "And, would one of you tell me which way Ambassador Katara went?"

"Straight down this hall, then left to the courtyard, Your Majesty," came a high, sweet voice next to him. He turned to the girl with a tiny smile.

"Thank you. And," he said as an afterthought, as he started to walk away, "Merry Christmas, Arisa."

"You…you…you know my name," the girl stuttered in surprise.

Zuko laughed. "Cherry pits." The girl blushed, nodded quickly, and bowed.

"Merry Christmas, Your Majesty." She scurried away. Zuko set down the hall with her directions, the picture of Princely dignity.

He made it out the door, and saw numerous footprints. He kneeled down, looking at them closely.

_Female, five-seven, 120 pounds, sprinting…._ He ran over the facts, not stopping to wonder why he knew them. Soon he had discerned which tracks were hers out of the dizzying array, and he set off after them.

It didn't take her long. She was tucked into the corner of the adjoining courtyard, her blue robes and dark hair standing out against the pale walls and white snow. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her face was buried in her elbows. He walked up to her, balancing in a position much like Aang had done not long ago, and touched her shoulder.

"Go away," she sniffled.

"I'm not Aang," he told her.

"I know," Katara snapped. "I'd recognize the sound of your footsteps anywhere."

Zuko didn't say anything.

"I used to listen for them when we were sleeping in the Western Air Temple, in case you tried to steal Aang… or something," Katara explained. She paused. "You sleepwalked a lot."

"No I didn't," Zuko argued, blushing. Uncle used to say the same thing all the time.

After a moment, she turned her head to look at him. "I told you to go away."

He stared. Brilliant blue eyes, shining with tears, framed by dark eyelashes, stared dead into his with a look of ferocity that he had never seen on any other girl. He looked away, feeling his cheeks burn.

"As you wish, Lady Katara," he said, getting revenge for her mocking formality during her first departure. He rose to his feet, walked a few paces away, and looked up. Above him towered the cherry tree that hovered over the courtyard's frosted pond. He considered for a moment, measuring in his head, and then leaped, grabbing a branch and swinging himself up with one arm. Then, with a self-satisfied smile, he settled himself in the depression between the branch and the trunk to wait.

oOo

Zuko's bright gold eyes snapped open.

_Dark,_ was his first thought. Then, _Cold. Wet. _Blink.

_Katara._

Zuko swung down and scanned the corner of the courtyard. To his distress, there was a slight form huddled there, in the same position Zuko had left her in. Katara hadn't gone inside. And he had fallen asleep waiting for her to. _Dammit._

He hurried over to her, his feet scattering tiny puffs of snow as he ran the few meters to her side. _As long as she didn't have frostbite_, he told himself. _As long as…._

"Katara." He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed hard. "Katara," he said again, more insistently.

"Hmmmm?" The girl lifted her head, blinking sleepy eyes. A tiny candle of recognition lit in them. "Zuko?"

"You're cold," he told her disapprovingly.

"Can't be," Katara slurred. "These winters are nothing compared to those at the South Pole."

"That you spend tucked into a warm igloo!" Zuko snarled. He went to pick her up.

"You're hot, Zuko."

He froze. _WHAT?_

"Your skin. It's really warm."

"Yeah. Benefit of being a firebender," he said, letting out a breath. _So that's what she meant. _

"Hmm…." She said noncommittally. She turned to look at him, and he was once again struck by her eyes. Except, this time, each dark eyelash had a droplet of ice on it.

"Your tears froze," he said without meaning to.

"What?" She lifted a hand to wipe it away, and Zuko quickly caught it, shivering at how cold the skin was. "What?" She asked again, though this time with a different tone.

"Don't," he said softly. "They catch the moonlight, and it makes your eyes sparkle. It's really pretty."

Katara looked at him as though he had just told her that Komodo-rhinos were an inch tall, and had travelling bands that danced and sang on freshly-baked pies for money.

"Forget it," he mumbled, offering her a hand up. It _had_ been an odd thing to say.

Katara accepted his hand and almost fell as her stiff legs refused to straighten. Zuko caught her arm before she could faceplant onto the snow-covered rocks. "I can carry you," he offered, as he saw her face scrunch up.

"No."

Zuko shrugged. He'd expected as much.

"But you can help," Katara allowed, as she took another step and nearly collapsed again. Zuko smiled at her unusual fast surrender and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist. They walked slowly.

"Zuko," she said after a moment. He grunted to show he was listening, staring into the darkness at the tiny flecks of snow drifting down. "Can I wipe off the icicles now? They're cold, and it's giving me a headache."

Zuko almost nodded, but an idea struck him. "Allow me," he said. "We don't want you losing any of those thick eyelashes." He turned so that both hands steadied her at the waist. He leaned down and breathed a heated breath onto her eyelids, watching as the drops melted and slipped away from her eyes and down her cheeks. He smiled. "It looks like you're crying again," he said.

Katara turned her face upwards, the movement making the moonlight reflected on the snow catch in her dark hair. Her deep blue eyes seemed sad, as if she was reminded about why she had come out in the first place. Zuko wiped the water off her cheeks, careful to hold her steady with his other hand. She was still freezing.

"Stop looking so sad," he ordered her.

Katara's expression didn't change. She kept staring.

"Cheer up, Katara," Zuko pleaded. "It's Christmas Eve, whether you celebrate it or not. Just forget about Aang, okay?"

"Are my lips blue? I'm freezing," she said suddenly. Zuko could have hit himself, making her stand out in the cold when she was hypothermic. She probably didn't want to talk about being dumped, either. _Stupid._

It didn't make him feel better that her lips _were_ blue.

"Right," he said quickly. "Sorry, let's get you inside."

"That wasn't what I had in mind."

One second, she was staring, damp eyes shimmering, and the next, her lips were pressed against his, as cold as snow. Zuko didn't flinch away, though. He'd eaten snow before. It hadn't killed him. It hadn't even tried to kill him, like just about everything else. Zuko kissed Katara for a long second, feeling her small, cold nose against his face. When she broke away, he breathed out slowly, watching her skin turn pink with warmth. "Better?" he asked gently.

"Much," Katara said, sounding slightly dazed.

"Would you fall if I took one hand away?"

"No."

"Good." Zuko moved one hand from her hip to her face, using his thumb to wipe away the remaining smears from the water drops. "Merry Christmas," he said with a grin.

"Merry Christmas," Katara repeated, forgetting that she didn't celebrate it. She soon forgot everything else, too, because Zuko's hand curled under her hair, pressing like a heater into the back of her neck, and his warm lips descended like fire on hers. It burned, so intensely hot that she almost pulled away, but son she found that she was comfortable, and not shivering. She pressed against him, feeling as the ice that had settled over her skin melted away under the heat of his body. She chuckled. He _was _hot.

Aang watched silently from the doorway. He had been wondering when the two would come back inside. The night was almost over, and he had told himself that if Zuko wasn't going to retrieve Katara then Aang would, before she froze to death. He wasn't surprised to see them, though. A small smile curled the corner of his lips. He'd always known why Zuko gave him advice. He wanted the girl, that was all.

"Ugh." A voice was suddenly beside him in the doorway. He didn't have to turn to know who it was. "She moves fast, Twinkletoes."

"Yeah," he said. "Can't be a hypocrite, though." He took her hand and led her away, letting the two have some privacy. He wasn't far enough away to not hear Zuko tell Katara that she looked beautiful, though, or to hear her reply that Zuko's kisses burned.

"Merry Christmas," he muttered under his breath, glad that at last, everyone was happy.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay! Zutaran Christmas! This was a gift-fic for my friend, likeaboss247, and for all the Zutara fans out there looking for a warm little present. It seems like Katara's always the one who wants to end the relationship with Aang, so I wanted to twist things up a little bit. So, if you have any thoughts or comments, or want to leave me a really amazing Christmas present under my metaphorical tree, please just write a quick review! Please please please!

Thanks for reading!


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